Name Procedures

This guidance document is advisory in nature but is binding on an agency until amended by such agency. A guidance document does not include internal procedural documents that only affect the internal operations of the agency and does not impose additional requirements or penalties on regulated parties or include confidential information or rules and regulations made in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. If you believe that this guidance document imposes additional requirements or penalties on regulated parties, you may request a review of the document.

Corporate Name Availability and Name Reservation Procedures

Prior to filing corporate organizational documents, you may be best served by seeking advice from your attorney and/or tax advisor to assess your specific situation. The Secretary of State's Office can provide you with the requirements for filing the organizational documents; however, our office cannot provide you with legal or tax advice.

Names requested for proposed formation documents or amendments are reviewed by our staff and searched against existing corporate entity records on file in our office. When similarities arise, staff then makes a determination of acceptability for filing, based on established criteria. We certainly appreciate your desire to begin advertising to get your business visible to the public. However, you do so at your own risk if your proposed name is not yet approved. Purchases of business cards, letterhead, signage, and setting up web domains, etc. are things our staff cannot take into consideration when making our determination of name availability.

Procedures for making inquiry for name availability of corporate entity names:

Inquiries about the name availability of corporate entity names must be submitted in writing, either via fax to (402) 471-3666 or by email to: sos.corp@nebraska.gov or by mailing to Secretary of State's Office, Business Services Division, PO Box 94608, Lincoln, NE 68509.

For name availability we will acknowledge in writing back to you; however, verification of name availability is merely a complimentary, courtesy service we provide, it is not a guarantee of acceptance of the name for filing. Only after a corporate filing is submitted to our office, is the final decision made by the Secretary of State's staff that the name is, in fact, available. Names cannot be the same as another name on record. In some cases when a name is deemed to be unavailable due to similarity with an existing registered name obtaining permission (consent) to use the name from the owner may be an option.

Procedures and forms for name reservations of corporate entity names:

Name reservations must be submitted in writing, with the appropriate fee, and if approved by the Secretary of State's staff, reserves the requested name for you to file the entity documentation within the 120 day period. You will be sent an Acknowledgement of Filing of the Name Reservation if the name was available or written notification that the name was not available.

Name reservation forms for are available on the Secretary of State's website:

Business and non-profit: APPLICATION FOR RESERVATION OF CORPORATE NAME

Limited Liability Company: APPLICATION FOR RESERVATION OF LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY NAME

Limited Partnership: APPLICATION FOR RESERVATION OF LIMITED PARTNERSHIP NAME.

Name Review Request

If the name you requested is deemed unavailable, you may request a review of the decision by submitting in writing the reasons you believe justify approval of your requested name. You may send the review request by e-mail to: sos.corp@nebraska.gov, by fax to: 402-471-3666, or by mail to: Secretary of State, P. O. Box 94608 Lincoln, NE 68509. The information will be presented to the legal counsel for the Business Services Division who will review the name and make a timely determination based on available information.

Finally, if you have been doing business in the State of Nebraska without filing the proper corporate entity documents, you may have been doing business unlawfully under state statutes. You are not required to hire an attorney to help you through the filing process, but again our office cannot provide legal or tax assistance. There is also other information available on doing business in Nebraska at the following website: New Business Information

If you have additional questions about these procedures, please call the Business Services, Corporation Division staff at:

Phone:(402) 471-4079 or
Fax to (402) 471-3666 or
Send emails to: Corporate Division.